Recent Airport Facial Recognition Initiatives in Asia, North America, and Europe Reflect the Acceleration of Biometrics Beyond Border Control

Over the past three days Atlanta's Hartsfield Jackson, London's Heathrow, and Shanghai's Hongqiao airports announced biometric facial recognition deployments aimed at improving the passenger experience while expediting the passenger journey. These announcements substantiate Acuity Market Intelligence forecasts projecting the global market for "Curb to Gate" Biometric Airport Automation will generate $1.3 billion in revenue over the next five years as more than 16,300 eGates and kiosks are deployed for automated check-in, auto bag drop, passport control, security checkpoints, and boarding by 2022. 

"Biometrics in the airport is no longer just about border control," says Maxine Most, Principal at Acuity Market Intelligence. "As global digital transformation creates expectations for frictionless experience, adoption of biometric automation at airports is moving beyond secure, facilitation towards enhanced passenger journeys. The age of seamless travel is here."

According to Acuity's latest research - "The Airport Automated Biometric Facilitation Report: From Curb to Gate" - more than 5,500 Automated Border Control (ABC) eGates, ABC Kiosks, Automated Passport Control (APC) Kiosks, Automated Immigration Check-in (AIC) Kiosks, Auto Bag Drop (ABD) units, and Automated Boarding (AIB) eGates are currently deployed at more than 300 locations in more than 80 countries. The number of Automated Biometric Facilitation units will triple by 2022 with expansion to dozens of additional airports. 

"Europe will continue to dominate the Automated Biometric Facilitation market during the 2018 to 2022 forecast period, accounting for nearly 30% of total units deployed and generating more than 34% of all revenues," Most says. "However, Acuity expects rapid growth in Asia to shift market dynamics to near total Asian market domination by 2028 or 2030."

"The Airport Automated Biometric Facilitation Report: From Curb to Gate" provides unit and revenue forecasts for biometric eGates and kiosks from 2018 to 2022 and can be previewed and purchased at the Acuity website (https://www.acuity-mi.com/ABCair_Report.php).

Acuity also offers Deployment Lists for ABC eGates (https://www.acuity-mi.com/eGatedep.php) and APC Kiosks (https://www.acuity-mi.com/APCdep.php) that provide location, units, owners, biometrics modality, registration and credential requirements, vendors, and vendor market share analysis for all known deployments.